The desk drawer closed quietly. The Postponement Decree No. 13 form—printed the night before—fit perfectly inside. On the edge of the desk, the bag of cookies Naia had left was still there. A white paper bag with the Leena Confectionery logo. Good quality material, even tied with a careful ribbon. Radius glanced at the bag, then turned his gaze toward the window. A thin miasma drifted up from the base of the Blackfang Mountains, mixing with the purple light of the deathlanterns, leaving the entire castle town of Obsidian hazy and dim. Just another ordinary morning. The report that had arrived yesterday—about the self-proclaimed hero circling the castle town six or seven times—was already settling into the category of "business as usual." (This is a bad trend.) Radius left the conquest plan on his desk without opening it. Knock, knock. Two raps on the door. A regular rhythm. "Excuse me." Tel entered. Black hair with a greenish tint, thin horns, a bundle of miasma-signal keys hanging from the chest of his uniform. His breathing was slightly ragged. He'd come in early again this morning—only the right sleeve of his uniform was slightly disheveled. "The latest miasma signal has arrived." Tel held out thin paper. The moment Radius took it and let his eyes scan it— "…Heading toward the castle gate plaza." "Yes. It seems they managed to slip out of the alley." "Is the direction correct?" "This time, it's toward the castle." Radius stood up. His hand reached for the desk drawer—pulling out Conquest Plan ver. 47. He flipped through the pages, trying to confirm the interception formation. If the hero was coming from the front, the castle gate plaza would be the contact point. What angle of approach, the placement of the castle walls, the deployment of troops— Then. CRASH!!! A chair fell from the next room over. Loudly. A moment later, water-colored hair flew into his field of vision. "A human from the human world came!? Maybe I know them!!" It was Naia. She'd been in the office at some point—or rather, she'd probably been rummaging through the cookie bag at the corner of the desk until just now. Her left eye was gold, her right eye silver—her mismatched eyes gleamed brilliantly. Her small white horns glowed faintly with excitement. "Wait—" The door was already open before he finished speaking. Patter patter patter patter!!! Footsteps running down the hallway. Fading. Fading. "So exciting~~~!!!" Only her voice remained. Radius looked at the door. It was already closed. "…Should I pursue?" Radius opened the desk drawer. He pulled out a small bottle of stomach medicine. He pinched one tablet between his fingers and put it in his mouth. He threw the conquest plan onto the desk. "Pursue." Tel stood frozen, still holding the documents. Toward Radius's back as he left for the hallway, she murmured quietly. "…I'll have to rearrange all the seats again." ──────────────────────── The castle gate plaza of Blackfang Castle was the ground-level main entrance. Two watchtowers made of dark crystal stood on either side, with heavy iron gates between them. A small building that doubled as a miasma-signal transmission station sat beside the gate. The plaza's stone pavement was black, dully reflecting the light of the deathlanterns. Radius emerged into the castle gate plaza. What came into view was— Naia and an unfamiliar human sitting side by side on the stone steps beside the castle gate. "You see, choux cream has a crispy outside and a gooey inside—that's the key! Salt cookies are the opposite—they have a bit of saltiness and are crunchy—which do you prefer!?" The human remained completely motionless, a sword resting on his lap. Young. Early twenties, perhaps. Worn travel clothes, well-used leather armor. A shield at his hip, and in his hand—just as yesterday's report said—a hand-drawn map. The one with severely distorted scale. His face held three emotions simultaneously: "Where am I?" "What am I doing?" and "But this looks delicious." Three bags of confections were lined up on the stone steps. A box of choux cream. A bag of salt cookies. And a small chocolate wrapper. All of them probably brought from the human world by Naia. Radius watched the scene for three seconds. (The person who came to launch an assault has become a participant in a goodwill confectionery gathering.) "…" He cleared his throat once. Naia looked up. "Oh, the Demon Lord!" she said brightly. The human jumped to his feet. He stood up from the steps and raised his sword. The box of confections that had been on his lap tilted with a clatter. A choux cream nearly rolled away. "Y-You're… the Demon Lord!?" Radius faced him silently. 395 centimeters of silver hair—long hair tied back, swaying in the thin breeze of the plaza. A jet-black robe. A glowing blue magical crest on his forehead. Deep purple eyes quietly capturing the sword-wielding human. The pressure of a man who had lived through eight hundred years of warfare changed the air of the plaza. "So you are the self-proclaimed hero." His voice was low and calm. The hero's sword hand trembled slightly. In that instant. Naia leaned toward the hero's ear, speaking naturally and quietly. "Don't worry about the scary face. His stomach is just weak." The hero's sword began to shake noticeably. Radius quietly closed his eyes. One, two, three. He counted to three. The hero's sword was shaking, but whether that trembling came from "fear" or "suppressed laughter" was impossible to tell. You could see from a distance that he was desperately trying to compose his expression. But the corners of his mouth were slightly loose. For a face to show to the unifier of the demon realm, it was quite strange. The information about a "weak-stomached demon lord" seemed to have rewritten something in the hero's mind. What should have been fear was transforming into mysterious familiarity—that was the kind of face he had. Radius slightly regretted having put the stomach medicine bottle away in his pocket. ──────────────────────── "I have a question." Radius faced the hero again, attempting to deploy his intimidation. Immediately after. Naia moved. She stepped between them. Spreading both arms. Her small 160-centimeter frame stood between Radius and the hero. "If you try to do anything to Radius-sama, I'll stop you!" Her voice was certain. No hesitation. However. Her position was—simultaneously protecting the hero and protecting Radius. Equidistant from both. She herself didn't even know which one she was defending. The hero lowered his sword slightly. "…Which side are you on?" "Everyone's side, of course?" Without a shred of doubt, with complete sincerity. The hero's expression became serious. Radius fell silent. The air of the plaza was wrapped in strange stillness. In Radius's mind, one fact was being quietly processed. Naia had stepped between him and the hero with her whole body. Her intention was clearly misguided. She didn't even know which one she was protecting. Her answer of "everyone's side" was neither strategy nor anything of the sort. But. For twelve years. Since unifying the demon realm until today. Not a single person had ever stepped in front of him to protect someone. He was always the one standing in front. For eight hundred years, it had always been that way. That fact surfaced now, in this moment, with a strange sensation. He didn't let it show on his face. He suppressed it before it could. A small figure arrived at the plaza entrance. Tel. She stood there breathless, still holding her stack of documents. She blinked at the triangle formed by Radius, the hero, and Naia. And—she quietly saw, alone, that Radius's face was in the instant "right after feeling something." In the next moment, Naia added: "Oh, but. If Radius-sama gets angry, I'll be the first one scolded anyway, so maybe I just stopped him first." Radius's expression returned to normal. Completely. Tel let her gaze fall to her stack of documents. She made her face blank. She saw nothing. ──────────────────────── The stalemate continued. The hero gripped his sword again. He took a step on the stone pavement, facing Radius anew. "I came… to fight the Demon Lord." There was resolve in his voice. A completely different face from the confectionery buffet participant from moments before. Radius moved as well. Half a step forward. His deep purple eyes captured the hero. A stance to meet him in combat. His jet-black robe fluttered, and the air of the plaza grew heavy. Into that space between them. Shwip! A choux cream was thrust in. Naia held it with both hands, offering it with a serious expression. "Then eat this first before you decide!" Silence. The hero: "…Now?" Radius: "…Why now?" Two voices came out almost simultaneously. All three noticed it. A strange moment. An odd moment. Radius asked something he would normally never ask. "…State your reason for offering confections before combat." "When your stomach is empty, your judgment gets worse—that's what the confectionery shop owner in the human world told me!" Completely serious. One second of silence. The hero burst out laughing. "Hgh—bu—!" The laughter wouldn't stop. His shoulders shook as he held his sword. The bags of confections lined up on the steps came into view, and he laughed even harder. He pressed his eyes, looked down, and still the laughter leaked out. His eyes were red. After a while, the hero looked up. "…Today…" He sheathed his sword. "I'll come back another time." He began walking back the way he came. Out of the castle gate plaza. One step, then another. His gait was steady. He wouldn't get lost on the way back today. Radius watched his back. "Don't get lost on the way." The words had come out. Unintentionally. The hero stopped. He didn't turn around. There was a moment—then he walked again. This time with slightly faster steps. Tel pulled out her notebook beside him, about to record something. She held her pen. Radius raised one hand lightly. "Don't record that." "…Yes." Tel closed her notebook. She put away her pen. She said nothing. ──────────────────────── Back in the throne room, the purple light of the deathlanterns slanted through the window. Radius sat before his desk and closed the conquest plan. He opened the drawer and pulled out the Postponement Decree No. 13 form. Before the blank space for the reason for postponement, he held his pen. For a while, he didn't move. "Interception opportunity lost (Reason: Confections)" He started to write—then stopped. He rewrote it. "Reason: Unforeseen circumstances" He set down his pen. On the edge of the desk, the cookie bag. The Leena Confectionery logo. The one Naia had left. It had been there since yesterday. Radius looked at the bag for a while. No one was around. Tel was organizing documents in the hallway. Radius pulled the bag toward him. He undid the ribbon and took out just one cookie. He ate it. A mixture of salt and sweetness. Not bad. "…" He started to reach for another—then stopped. Instead, he put the bag back on the edge of the desk. His hand reached for the stomach medicine bottle, but this time he stopped it. From beyond the door, Tel's voice. "…Do you need stomach medicine?" "No." He answered curtly. Tel seemed to start to say something, then didn't. The sound of her shuffling documents resumed down the hallway. Silence fell. From the direction of the castle town, the voices of the morning market drifted faintly. Footsteps on stone pavement, merchants calling out—the daily life of Obsidian. Somewhere, a child's laughter mixed in. By now, was that hero leaving the castle town, heading back toward the Jade Gate—one of the four gates that existed in the Ash Veil? Or was he lost in the alleys again? "Don't get lost on the way." He still wasn't sure if that had been a warning or a murmur. And then. BOOM!!! A muffled explosion echoed f